Or “O Be Wise”

August 21, 2021

by Scott L. Nelson, Stake Finance Specialist

In His parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-13 the Savior illustrates with wise virgins the importance of preparing in advance and with the foolish virgins that one can be ”too late”.  He then concludes with the admonition in verse 13 to “Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.”  I believe this can be applied to other things also.  We don’t know when (fill in the undesirable event here) will happen.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen several examples of bad outcomes that could have been prevented with timely preparation.  The examples include, but are not limited to:

Estate Planning: We all know that we should have our affairs in order and plan to do it “someday”.  But “someday” is not on the calendar and is always in the future.  One of our clients was surprised after her husband passed away to learn that her name was not on the title of their rental properties. Her son was listed as joint owner with her husband so they now belong to the son.

Powers of Attorney: We had a client contract COVID-19 and had to be put on a respirator and a drug induced coma.  She was the one to pay all of the bills and reconcile the bank accounts.  Her husband wasn’t able to get any information because his name was not on the accounts.  It cost him $2,000 to get an emergency guardianship so that he could take care of their finances.  A wiser move would have been to get the entire estate plan done that included a Trust, Wills and Powers of Attorney for about $1,500.

Car Insurance: After an accident is never a good time to find out that your coverage limits are too low or that maybe changing the coverage to Liability Only was a bad idea.

Flood Insurance:   After the water is in the basement is not a good time to find out that your policy does not cover the damage.  Flood and Earthquake coverage are usually NOT covered by most policies.  In order to have that coverage you’ll usually need to add a rider for an additional premium.

Life Insurance:  We had a client discover that they are diabetic during the underwriting process and will not be insurable until he can show that he has the condition under control.  We had a grieving widow tell of her fight with the insurance company because her husband died of a bee sting and the insurance company felt her husband should have disclosed that to them.  I’m sure there is more to that story but we can’t ask the husband about it.

Long-Term Care Insurance:  It’s usually best to purchase a Long-Term Care policy while in your 50’s or 60’s.  Once above the age of 65 the odds of you needing long-term increases to 70% and the premium costs rise also.  I think all of us have at least one story we can tell of trying to care for an elderly loved one.

Disability Income Insurance:   It’s actually 6 times more likely that a person under age 65 will become disabled and unable to work that it is that they will die prematurely.  Many employers offer this coverage at very low rates.  It would be wise to get it before something happened.

Real Estate Purchase Agreements:  We had a person come to us this week with a “Rent-to-Own” Real Estate purchase agreement.  It seems like a great idea to have some of your rent go toward the purchase of a property.  Unfortunately, neither the buyers nor the seller used any professional help in preparing the contract and nothing was legally recorded.  Meanwhile, the seller used the property for collateral for several bail bonds and even filed for bankruptcy protection.  Now the real estate is tied up in court and it looks like our client may end up out of luck and their money.  If it had been done properly, the seller would not have had the ability to encumber the property and the buyer would have been protected.  It would have been wise to use a good realtor and title company up front.  Now it’s too late.

Time doesn’t allow me to tell all of the stories I’ve come across where people have received bad advice or no advice at all in these areas and others but if you’re really curious and catch me at the right time I may be able to tell you more.

I can think of nothing more heartbreaking that to learn of a sad situation that could have been prevented after it’s too late to do anything helpful.

My challenge to you is to schedule some time with yourself to review your affairs.  Don’t be afraid to seek professional help.  And to quote Nephi’s brother, Jacob “O be wise; what can I say more?” (Jacob 6:12)